I dodged back, evading her relentless onslaught.
Each swing of her blade sent shards of ice cascading through the air, while hail rained down from the heavens, forming jagged spikes that pierced the earth around me.
Roniel's speed was astonishing—faster than I could fully process. But speed alone wouldn't win her this fight. I had grown too, more than she could possibly imagine.
Her movements were precise, her strikes calculated.
She wasn't just attacking aimlessly—she was hunting for an opening, a single clean hit that would spell my end.
I couldn't let her touch me. If her hand so much as grazed me, it would be over.
She doesn't know what kind of magic I wield. Not yet.
And she doesn't realize I'm holding back—for Mother's sake. Despite her uncertainty, I couldn't bring myself to go all out against Roniel.
As she lunged forward, I parried her strike, countering with a thrust aimed at her shoulder.
She spun effortlessly, her katana slicing across my side.
The impact sent me crashing into the distant trees, splinters flying as my body slammed into the trunk.
Pain flared, but I had no time to recover. The moment I hit the ground, her hand loomed above my neck, frost curling around her fingertips.
My eyes widened. Too close.
Instinctively, I raised my hand, blood spilling from my mouth as I coughed violently. A deliberate motion.
Roniel's face twisted in disgust as she leapt back, tumbling to the ground.
"You revolting little beast!" she snarled, wiping her coat. "Did you just try to spit blood at me?"
I stood, brushing dirt from my coat. "Perhaps," I said with a faint smirk.
Before I could say more, the hail swirling around us converged, encasing me in a sphere of ice.
The walls of the sphere thickened, frost creeping inward, ready to crush me.
I sighed, gripping my blade tightly. A flick of my wrist sent a sharp crescent of energy slicing through the ice, shattering it into fragments.
She was waiting. Her katana came down like a hammer, the air itself freezing in its wake.
I blocked, the clash sending a deafening crack through the clearing. Twisting my body, I kicked her hard in the stomach.
She soared skyward, clutching her midsection, frost trailing behind her.
I exhaled deeply. Enough restraint. If she wanted a real fight, I'd give her one.
Roniel steadied herself mid-air, gripping her katana with both hands as a thick layer of ice encased the blade.
It radiated a frigid aura, the ground below freezing solid as she descended.
Meanwhile, I raised my own blade to my neck and drew it across the skin.
Her eyes widened. "Raviel, what are you doing?!" she screamed.
Blood gushed from the wound—but before it could spill to the ground, the gash closed, leaving my veins glowing with a pure crimson light.
My blood itself pulsed with magic.
I pointed my blade skyward, the red aura extending like a pillar into the clouds.
Realizing the danger, Roniel acted. She swung her katana, unleashing an arc of ice that roared toward me like an avalanche.
I responded, swinging my extended blade downward.
The crimson energy cleaved through her ice, shattering it in an explosion of frost.
The slash didn't stop there—it struck her directly, forcing her to the ground with a thunderous crash.
She managed to block at the last moment, but the impact left her battered and bloodied, her body lying in the middle of a dust-filled crater.
I approached slowly, the tip of my blade dragging through the dirt. Her form was drenched in blood, her breaths shallow as she glared up at me.
"What… what kind of disgusting power is this?" she rasped, her voice trembling. "How have you grown this much?"
I smirked. "Well, little sister—"
Before I could finish, my body collapsed, pain ripping through me like fire.
I let out a low scream, curling into a ball as the agony consumed me.
Each wound I'd inflicted or endured seemed to manifest all at once, each a reminder of what I'd endured.
Through blurred vision, I saw the sky clear above me. The clouds parted, revealing a split star—two suns, one blazing red, the other pale blue.
Roniel stood over me, her shadow long and cold.
"Even monsters have limits," she said softly, her voice a mixture of pity and triumph.
She pulled a revolver from her pocket, the barrel glinting in the dim light as she pointed it at me.
"You're too hasty, brother," she said calmly. "And far too kind."
The gunshot rang out, but the bullet wasn't meant for me. Instead, it struck someone else, their screams tearing through the air.
The intense pain that had immobilized me subsided just enough for me to move.
Still wracked with discomfort, I forced myself to stand, my legs shaky but steadying with effort.
Turning, I saw him. A familiar figure. Verlin—the Serpent of Death.
His infamous nickname was well-earned, though not for sheer strength. It came from his mastery of poison, the deadliest kind.
He stood there in a black cloak, twin daggers glinting at his sides.
Through the shadows of his hood, silver eyes burned with a mix of fury and pain as he clutched his left shoulder, blood seeping between his fingers.
"Damn," Verlin spat, his voice a venomous growl. "I should've killed you both when I had the chance."
A faint smirk tugged at my lips as Roniel brushed past me, holstering her gun briefly before drawing it again.
She walked toward Verlin with deliberate steps, her calm demeanor sharper than any blade.
"Ronni," I said as she passed, catching her attention for a brief moment.
She didn't stop but flicked my forehead hard enough to send me staggering back to the ground.
Each step she took toward Verlin seemed to drain his confidence. I could see his hands trembling now.
"Listen," he said, raising one palm in a futile gesture of peace. "I know I just said I should've killed you both, but… maybe let me off easy, yeah?"
Roniel leveled her revolver at his face, the cold steel resting against his left eye.
"Tell Cole I miss him," she said, her tone icy but calm. "And that he owes me for sparing his brother's pathetic life."
Verlin swallowed hard and nodded before slipping into the shadows, his form dissolving into the darkness itself, leaving only the faint scent of blood and fear in his wake.
Roniel turned back to me, letting out a long sigh as she approached. "Brother," she said softly, holstering her revolver, "you know I never really intended to kill you, right?"
I nodded. "I knew."
Her lips twitched into a faint smile. "You just wanted to test me, didn't you?"
"Maybe," I admitted, brushing off the dirt on my coat. "But I'm impressed. You've grown stronger than I expected, Ronni."
Her expression softened, though she quickly masked it. Roniel had always been one to bury her true emotions, even around me.
But then she surprised me. She stepped closer and wrapped her arms around me, pulling me into a tight embrace.
"I missed you, you stubborn idiot," she muttered, her voice muffled against my shoulder. "I still hate you, though."
I let out a low chuckle, hugging her back. "What a deadly hug."
***
Back then, before I set out to find immortality for my love, we were incredibly close.
We often hunted together, taking down criminals or beasts with ease.
Ronni is undeniably stronger than me, but I can still defeat her because of the gap in our abilities.
Truthfully, I'm weak compared to my love—especially since she's also a hunter. Though in my defense, she's part demon.
Ronni and I continued our journey toward the capital, and while we made decent progress, the split star had already begun to fall.
It's strange to think about how it was only a short time ago when that star wasn't split in two. I was only ten when it happened.
During a fight with the Man on the Moon, Lira had unleashed a powerful attack. Before she could weaken it, she accidentally split the star in the sky that gives us our light.
Thankfully, Lira's mana control was strong enough to prevent it from exploding. Instead, she locked the star in place, allowing it to function normally.
But now, days were growing shorter.
"Ronni, who is this Cole person you mentioned back there?" I asked, hoping to pass the time.
She turned to me with an annoyed look—one she had only given me once before.
Then, against my wishes, she made an image with her hands.
She formed a hole, sticking her finger through it. Immediately, I made a quiet vow... I'm going to kill Cole.
"Ugh, sister, could you not just speak like a mature person?" I sighed.
She laughed. "Ah, I'm just joking, brother. Though, he is quite handsome. But I don't think he'd be the kind of man to go after someone like me."
Before I could ask why, I heard a loud roar, and Ronni's expression made it clear that she'd heard it too.
"What beast do you think it is, brother? A Clicker? Maybe a Drowned?" she asked.
I shook my head. "No, it's just a simple bear. But it might be suffering under a curse, judging by its tone."
The path had led us into a sparse forest, though calling it that felt like an insult to a real forest.
We had already stepped out of the shadow of the trees when we saw the bear, just as I'd expected.
I turned to Ronni, who eyed the large beast carefully, seeming to gauge if my words held true.
"Brother, I think it's possessed by a demonic spirit. Maybe even a Calamity Class," she said.
"Really? I can't sense its soul properly after that damned angel visited me."
She turned to look at me, confused. "You met a divine creature? I thought they all hated you because of… well, you know."
"Ah, I saved her child. And get this, it with a demon," I replied.
Ronni's eyes widened in surprise, and then she punched my shoulder. "No way, you're telling stories."
Just as I was about to respond, the bear let out another roar and began charging toward us.
"Damn, I didn't want to kill it, but I guess that's the only choice," Ronni muttered as she drew her katana.
"Eh, it's better this way. It would only suffer being possessed by a spirit of the Calamity Class."
We often rank monsters and beasts based on their power and magical abilities.
We rank them from one to ten: one being harmless and ten being a threat to reality.
But we also assign them classes.
Going over them all would take hours, but the Calamity Class means that no matter what, the creature causes widespread destruction, whether it's good or evil.
As the bear charged, Ronni pointed her sword and began chanting. "Frozen Crucifix."
Chains of ice bound it, and a large nail of pure black ice appeared, piercing the beast's body.
I was quite glad she didn't use such a spell on me.
The beast screamed in agony before falling silent as it was pierced through.
Without hesitation, Ronni walked up to it, chanting her sacred words under her breath.
"Beast of the night, peace of the light. I grant you freedom, only if you give me a bite."
With those words, the bear's soul was absorbed into her body, and I could feel the power she gained from it.
That was at least a rank two beast, so it wasn't much, but I could definitely feel the change.
Maybe even rank three.
She glanced back at me, walking over and placing her arm around my shoulder. "Tell me more about this demon-angel hybrid."
"Yes," I said, "I fought a legion of vampires in the lost city of Lamparouge."
I explained everything to her, and before long, the night had fallen.
We decided to set up camp between two towering trees, their immense trunks blocking out much of the starlight.
I hated the night because, at night, if you were strong enough and a creature wanted power, they would come for you.
They would come to hunt you.